3/18/2020 0 Comments John Smith Essay Example for Free John Smith Essay Dear Hiring Manager: In response to your recent advertisement for Customer Service Manager, I have enclosed a copy of my resume for your review. As you will note, I have spent more than five years in the Customer Service profession in different positions of increasing responsibility. I have a track record with assisting customers and am skilled in communication and computer applications. My career is chronicled by meritorious promotions and the fact that I am well versed in interpersonal skills is a significant contributing factor to the successes I have achieved. I am seeking to further my career in the customer service field where I can maximize my communication and organizational skills to further business goal and bottom-line objectives. In my candidacy, you will find: A team oriented professional with a positive work ethic and deep commitment to providing excellent results A track record of excellent performance as an employee at my various places of employment The proven ability to build genuine rapport. Your review of my enclosed resume to explore a possible match between your needs and my skills is much appreciated. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you in person to learn more about your business and to explore employment possibilities. You may reach me at 802-555 5550 or via email at [emailprotected] com Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Sincerely, John Smith Enclosure.
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12/26/2019 0 Comments Oracle Corporation EssayThe Central Intelligence Agency had commissioned the project to build a commercial database management system for IBM mainframe computers and code-named it Oracle. Software Development Laboratories took the Oracle name in 1982. After completion of the project, Ellison, Miner, Oates, and Scott had a vision of developing and distributing their database software as a profitable business opportunity. From 1982 to 1986, Oracle had achieved 100% growth. On March 15th, 1986, Oracle went public, one day after Microsoft’s initial public offering. From 1986 to 1989, revenues skyrocketed from $55 million to $584 million, making it one of the largest independent software companies in the world, employing over 4,000 people in 24 countries. The Oracle Corporation’s objective of becoming a profitable database software company had been achieved. Market and industry growth continued until the third quarter of 1990. Oracle suffered a $15 million dollar loss on $240 million in revenues. Between 1988 and 1991, operating margins had plummeted from 23 to 3 percent. During this time, the company’s stock value also fell. Oracle responded by letting go of 400 employees in the United States and reorganizing its senior management team. This business problem was the direct result of something the company simply overlooked. As the company was focusing all of its energies on growth during the late 1980’s, they were losing sight of their internal operations and infrastructure. They also planned their expenses based on the 100% annual growth rate they experienced in the prior years, causing them to lose money. In addition, they delayed the delivery of their latest product, which allowed the competition to draw closer to them. However, the release of their next product would see Oracle quickly rebound and turn things back around. In July of 1991, Oracle was working on a new database software that had the ability to manage text, video, audio, and other data through a set of loosely connected servers. This database software was called Oracle 7, and was one of many IT solutions that would put Oracle ahead of the competition and save the company. 996 saw database sales grow by 20 percent and then to 10 percent in 1997, the year Microsoft released its rival SQL server, which was a cheaper alternative database release with aspirations of stealing Oracle’s market share. During this time, Oracle attempted to expand beyond databases and entered into the two largest application software markets, enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management. Ellison saw this as a lucrative business opportunity, considering the fact that the ERP market was estimated at $20 billion in 1999 and projected to exceed $65 billion by 2003. The CRM market was estimated at $4 billion in 1999 and projected to exceed $16 billion by 2003. Ellison recognized that CEO’s wanted to understand profitability per costumer and to be able to detect dissatisfaction before the customer leaves. He realized that ERP and CRM software would allow CEO’s to do that by turning database information into knowledge about consumers. Ellison’s vision of internet-enabled software began to take shape in 1999 with the release of Oracle8i. It was followed by internet-enabled versions of all the company’s key software products. A key IS solution in the development of Oracle Corporation would be Oracle e-Business Suite, which would include a collection of ERP and CRM applications that automated many necessary business functions. This would be the beginning of the high impact IS solutions to follow. In June of 1999, Ellison declared that Oracle would attempt to save $1billion dollars by the end of 2000 by transforming into an e-business. Ellison then eliminated all non-e-business options from the company. This bold move was an incredible success and a brilliant IS solution to some of the company’s business problems. The changes were easy and smooth to implement. An example given in the case was that of an expense report. In the past, a sales rep would fill out an expense report and manually send it to headquarters. Now the sales rep just completes the forms on the web where the report can be tracked. Not only did this create $6 million dollars in direct savings, the reports were easier and faster to complete. This solution did not only benefit employees, but customers, too. In the past if a customer wanted to demo Oracle’s software, a sales rep had to set an appointment to do the demo in person. Now, the sales rep can gain access to the customer’s browser and, over the phone, can do the demo over the browser at Oracle. com. The shift to self-service was a very necessary and profitable solution for Oracle. They began saving millions of dollars and hours of time. Another business problem Oracle had was a lack of centralization in the business. One clever way they did this was by changing incentives for country managers. Country manager’s incentives were originally based on revenue. This was to be changed to shift their incentives to be based on margin. In the past, 97 e-mail servers existed with almost 120 databases in over 50 countries. This was dramatically reduced when Oracle gave each country CEO a choice. They could receive free e-mail through Redwood Shores or pay to service an e-mail server, which would directly impact their margin, and ultimately, their variable pay. This was a very effective IS solution to the lack of centralization problem the business had. Oracle would continue to centralize the business by pulling human resources, legal, sales administration, and marketing out of each country office and consolidating them at Redwood Shores. Oracle now had a single system that served everything. Oracle saved a lot of wasted money by centralizing its marketing department. The products were the same in every country, so the centralization made sense and was absolutely necessary. By June of 2000, Oracle had gone from 63 to 17 company websites worldwide. By August 2000, the company was down to one website, Oracle. com. This solution saved the company a lot of money that was being wasted operating multiple websites for multiple countries and confusing the brand with different languages, colors, and logos. The transformation to e-business saved Oracle a ton of money, but this wasn’t the only benefit of the move. The switch also generated marketing pull. Oracle’s customer base grew as a result of having better information about their customers’ and sales outlets. The pull strategy came to fruition by two combining factors. The story of the company’s transformation combined with the new gained credibility the company received by performing this transformation so publicly. Now instead of sales reps attempting to sell the CEO of another company their software, CEO’s were going directly to Oracle technology to transform their own businesses. This pull allowed Oracle to open an online store, as opposed to hiring more sales people to handle the increased demand. This latest IS solution, in turn, created more sales. In 1999, Oracle began streamlining its Oracle University, which supported 2500 full-time employees in 143 countries while enrolling about 500,000 students annually. These Oracle courses led to the certification of developers and programmers that the company needed to continue growth. This business solution was yet another great move designed to farm their own employees. iLearning technology was then created as a means of a continuing education extension to Oracle University’s certification process. This software would be hosted online and could be updated daily without patches. Oracle Corporation is a great example of a company who had the ability to predict the future of technology and make innovations to lead the industry. They took risks, and they paid off. Larry Ellison took a big risk when he eliminated all non-e-business elements out of his business and made the transformation to e-business, and his company was rewarded with tremendous cost savings and higher revenues. He also predicted at the end of a June 2000 press conference that the software industry would vanish and be replaced by a service industry. This remains to fully be seen, but it appears there could be truth to this. Cloud computing has been the next innovation in computer technology, as we say many companies now providing services that used to require us to install software on our computers.
Show where you would include music in your production and what different effects you would try to achieve. The earthy, natural feeling of A Midsummer Night's Dream gives many inspirations and possibilities for music to be included in the play. It also, contrastingly, gives the opportunity for music not to be used (for example during the songs specifically written in the text and the overall lyricism of the play). Before the performance, during the interval and afterwards I want to show and enhance the nature links within the play. I thought of a time when man and nature were very close, and remembered some tribal music I had.
It uses a lot of drums and panpipes, very primitive instruments that show the early nature of the music and the time. It also uses voice, but no words, relying on the noises made by the human voice rather than the pronunciation. An early interpretation of the word “faerie†meant a spiritual being who was very much linked with nature. These beings had good and bad sides, so are not the archetypal “fairies†often portrayed today. The spiritual, tribal music would enhance the idea that the faeries are not that dissimilar to humans, while remaining completely different. I would like to give the audience a hint of what is to come just before it happens. For example, just before a fairy is about to come onstage, I would have a short piccolo burst to signify it. This could be continued for each of the three “classes†– mortals and Mechanicals too. The higher-class mortals could be symbolised by a short burst on the trumpet. This could be increased to a fanfare for Theseus when he enters, and vary between a short note for the lovers on their own to a full fanfare for the court. Similarly, since the Mechanicals are also mortals, a brass instrument could be their entrance too. This would link them to the members of the court, but by using a different instrument such as a trombone, it would set them apart as well. A trombone would be good because it is associated with slapstick comedy, which is what the Mechanicals are, essentially. These notes before an actor's entrance would have to be timed very well so that they came before an entrance, but not too far before so as to detract from the last scene. When Titania and Oberon meet in Act II, Scene I, Titania has a very long speech on how the seasons are being disrupted by their lovers' feud. This speech would be difficult to say while keeping the attention of the audience, and previously I have ideas to cut it. However, looking at the music in this production I have decided on a great piece that would really work. It is called Pachelbel's Frolics. It is derived from Pachelbel's Canon but slowly changes during the piece, almost too slowly to notice. By the end of the music, it has progressed into a full-blown Irish Gig. I think this is wonderfully significant to the piece as it so accurately portrays the changes of which Titania speaks. The fact that it happens so slowly will confuse the audience I think, because they will not notice the change in tune until it has changed thoroughly. Act II, Scene II has the fairies singing Titania to sleep. It would be tempting to use music here to support the fairies. After thinking this through, I decided that no music would be better, as that way the lyricism in the text can come through in their voices alone. Harmonies and vocal variations within the song would be nice here, showing how the differences in the worlds come together to make something that is good. The rhythm and harmonies alone should be enough to carry the piece through. We have tried it in production with it as a choral piece, each saying different lines, and it didn't work very well. Treating the song as a song would work better, but this would require getting a musical assistant to produce a tune for the song, and to work on the harmonies. It would also require actors who could sing and manage harmonising. I think that if the piece was done well, it would work much better than if music were put to it. Act III, Scene I includes Bottom's rowdy song, originally sung to cheer himself up and make him less scared. As it continues, I think he should get rowdier and bawdier; more confident. I don't think I would use music here either. At the beginning he should definitely be alone, and any musical accompaniment would detract from his solitude onstage. For the first half of the song, before Titania wakes up, he should sing quietly, building up to full volume at the line “The wren with little quill. †Then, after Titania's line he can start at full volume, loudly, brash, almost in a drunken way. His voice should not be particularly tuneful, but very loud (as if to make up for it! . This would show how unrefined he is, and how totally unsuited to Titania. It would also emphasise the differences in appearance and behaviour, especially if Titania is played very daintily and quiet in the scene. The final place where music could be used is in Act V, during and just after the Bergomask dance. Again, I would like to use the music here to emphasise the class differences between the three groups. When the Mechanicals dance, the music they dance to should reflect their status. This is why I chose “Irish Party in Third Class. It is an Irish tune, much more heavy and beating than the one I have used previously. It is from the party below decks in Titanic, and has such a great atmosphere to it that it would work with the Mechanicals' base instincts. This would also show the class boundaries, as it is fairly apparent that this music is not “refined†for the other members of the household. The heavy beat of the drum and the deeper notes of bagpipes compared to the fiddle make the piece quite natural and tribal again, while keeping its Irish connotations. After the performance of the Mechanicals' play, Oberon and Titania appear to bless the house. They also dance, and as Shakespeare's stage directions are very remote, the dance could be of any kind. I thought that to emphasise the link with nature, it would be good to use the music from the interval as a dance for them. It has very heavy drumbeats and so carries a good rhythm for dancing. The tribal links would be carried through the whole play, creating continuity through the performance. The whole essence of the fairies in my production is their darker, less “perfect†side. This dance at the end could be very ritualistic, almost pagan. Through the dance we could see their personalities come through as themselves. 12/5/2019 0 Comments Death of a Salesman Essay‘Death of a Salesman’ tells us a lot about the ideology of the author, Arthur Miller. His main character Willy is a normal man who feels he is a failure because he doesn’t average ‘a hundred and seventy dollars a week’ which causes him to become suicidal. Miller is trying to tell the audience that ambitions and dreams can take over our lives and destroy them in the process. Biff says ‘I don’t know what I’m supposed to want’ as if there was one dream to fulfil otherwise you have failed. The pressure surrounding dreams is far too great and sometimes we have to come to terms with the fact they cannot be accomplished.
Arthur Miller is also exploring the fact that success doesn’t only involve career, money and popularity. Happy has his ‘own apartment, a car and plenty of women’ but comes to realise that he still not satisfied. He tells Biff that ‘I’m lonely. ‘ Money may make you financially successful but it does not secure your happiness. Willy is only preoccupied with living up to his idol, Dave Singleman. Dave Singleman is a salesman who ‘drummed merchandise in thirty-one states’ and could just ‘pick up his phone and call the buyers, and without ever leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, he made his living. ‘ This is Willy’s ultimate fantasy, to make his name known and to be able to work from home. Hundreds of salesman and buyers were at Dave Singleman’s funeral, Willy believes that this greatest sign of popularity and honour. Arthur Miller creates one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the Requiem when no one shows up at Willy’s funeral other than his family and neighbour. Not only does ‘Death of a Salesman’ inform the audience about Arthur Miller’s opinions on success, failure and dreams, it tells them what he thinks of his own country. This play is set in America, Miller’s home country, in the 1940s. It is a vigorous attack on American values. He disapproves of the belief that money and public esteem are signs of excellence. Willy Loman is a victim of this system. This becomes evident when he does not believe that Bernard will not be successful because he is not ‘well-liked. ‘ The American Dream is the concept that through hard work and dedication, anyone can be successful. Through Willy’s character, Arthur Miller shows us that he disagrees with this belief. The theme of The American Dream runs through the entire play, Willy is a firm believer in it. At first, this concept seems to be inspirational and advantageous but it is the very thing that kills Willy. This play shows the audience that The American Dream encourages superficial prejudice against those who do not achieve it. This causes pressure and insecurity for those who are not ‘rich’ and ‘well-liked. ‘ It examines the cost of blind faith in the American Dream. Despite being written over fifty years ago, this play is still important and relevant today. The play is a tragedy and many people can empathize with Willy’s character. Willy is not superhuman, he is just a man. Moreover, The American Dream is still very much alive today. People flood over from all over the world to come to America to search for fame and fortune, only a few ever achieve it. In conclusion, Arthur Miller allows the audience to see the inside of Willy’s by Time-switches and expressing his ideology and beliefs on success, failure, dreams and America. ‘Death of a Salesman’ addresses the painful conflicts within one family, but it also tackles larger issues regarding American national values. A half century after it was written, this play remains a powerful drama. It is even more relevant today in a world where materialism is such a major problem. There is a part of everyone in the character Willy Loman. Written by Emily Kho – 1 – Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section. |